[Rhodes22-list] A Different Approach to Adding Lithium Batteries To Your Boat

[THOMAS POLISE]

Jesse, do you have a wiring diagram on how you wired the 10 watt solar panels?

> On Aug 13, 2022, at 9:31 AM, Jesse Shumaker <jesse.laten.shumaker at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> Thanks Peter.  That youtube channel has quite a bit of interesting
> background.  I wonder if you have checked out https://atomvoyages.com/ or
> the corresponding youtube channel
> <https://www.youtube.com/user/atomvoyager/videos>.  There is lots of
> interesting project work there.  I suspect a bunch of us on the list
> probably watch a bunch of the same sailing you tube channels.  By the way,
> thanks for posting the videos of your recent Maine trip.  It's always great
> to watch your adventures.
> 
> An update from some of my posts of the electrical update I made over the
> winter: the system that I ended up with was a the LiFePO4 as a house
> battery charged by 30W solar panel mounted above the stern rail, and then a
> small sealed lead acid battery on a separate circuit for my electric start
> motor + motor lift.  The lead acid battery is changed by the two 10W solar
> panels (that came with the R22) wired in series, as well as the
> alternator.  So far this has worked out well.  Like a lot of my projects,
> it's probably overkill.  Each of the batteries is under 30lbs so it is
> easier to take them out for the off season.
> 
> Jesse Shumaker
> S/V Zephyr
> 
>> On Thu, Aug 11, 2022 at 2:52 PM Peter Nyberg <peter at sunnybeeches.com> wrote:
>> 
>> There's been some interest in this topic in the past, and I recently
>> stumbled upon a different take on the subject that I found interesting, and
>> I thought I'd share.
>> 
>> LiFePO4 batteries have some benefits that everyone at all interested is
>> probably already aware of, but they also have some potential problems.  The
>> biggest problems stem from the fact that the Battery Management System
>> (BMS), may decide in some situations to take the battery offline.  If you
>> are entirely dependent on the lithium batteries, this would leave you
>> entirely without power.  In addition, if you were charging your lithium
>> battery with an alternator at the time of disconnect, it is likely that the
>> alternator would be ruined.
>> 
>> There are complicated solutions to this problem involving additional
>> equipment, but there's a guy who proposes the best approach is to just
>> combine LiFePO4 and lead-acid batteries into a single battery bank.
>> 
>> I won't bother trying to explain, because he does a pretty good job of it
>> himself:
>> 
>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAuPfgZgXec
>> 
>> He's got a few more related videos on his YouTube channel, if you continue
>> to be interested.
>> 
>> --Peter
>> 
>> P.S.  I'm not seriously considering doing this on my boat.
>> 
>>